Geoege teed



(No Model.)

G. TEED.

3 BANJO. No. 313,334. Patented Mar. .3, 1335.

WITNESSES: INV'BNTOR WM Qgeorge Turk ATTORNEYS N PETERS. mm Llllmgmphev, Washmgkm, n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE TEED, OF NEIV YORK, N. Y.

BANJO.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 313,384, dated March 3, 1885.

Application filed December 18, 1884.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE Train, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Banjos, of which the following is a specification.

The objects of my invention are to provide a novel, efficient, and superior banjo or similar string-instrument, to provide a novel con struction of parts for bracing the rim and sustaining the strain of the strings, and to pro vide novel means for adjusting the tension of the parchment head.

The objects of my invention I accomplish in the manner and by the means hereinafter described and claimed, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which.

Figure 1 represents a plan or top view. Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section in the plane 00 :0, Fig. 1, on a larger scale than the previous figure.

Similar letters indicate corresponding parts.

In the drawings, the letter A designates the rim, the upper edge, a, of which is arched and made of greater thickness than the body of the rim, as shown in Fig. 2. \Vith this rim is combined an annular brace, B, which is by preference made of metal, and which is secured to the rim by a series of screws,b I), in such a manner that it firmly braces said rim against .the strain of the strings. In the example shown in the drawings the annular brace is provided with a series of ears, 0, which are let into the arched edge a of the rim A, and secured thereto by the screws 1) b. By these means the annular brace is firmly secured in position, and the entire strain of the strings is sustained by said brace, so that my banjo retains its tune much better than a banjo in which the wooden rim A has to sustain the strain of the strings. The annular brace is arched to correspond to the arched edge of the rim, and open spaces (1 are left between its outer edge and the arched edge a of the rim,whereby the fullness of the sound of the instrument is increased.

0 is the parchment head,which is stretched over the drum D, as shown in Fig. 2. On this drum is fitted a'ring, E, which bears upon the rim 6 of the parchment head O,and which can (No model.)

be drawn down by means of screws f, so as to regulate the tension of the parchment head. These screws are tapped into a flange or lugs formed on the ring E, and they turn loosely in lugs or ears 9, which project from the drum D. The upper ends ofsaid screws are reduced in thickness, and they extend through the annular brace B, and are retained therein by nuts h, so that the drum D, together with the parchment head and the tension-ring E,is supported by the brace B, and this position is not disturbed when the screws are turned for the purpose of adjusting the tension of the parchment head.

On the edge of the rim A which is opposite to the edge supporting the annular brace is secured the back F, which is arched so as to increase the vibration and improve the fullness of the sound.

What I claim as new,and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The combination, with the rim A and parchment head 0 of a banjo or similar musical instrument, of an annular arched brace, B, secured to the rim, and provided with the openings (1 between the outer edge of the brace and the rim, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. The combination, with the rim A and the parchment head 0 of a banjo or similar musical instrument, of an annular arched brace, B, having a series of ears, 0, projecting from its outer edge and attached to the rim, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. The combination, with the rim A and the parchment head 0 of a banjo or similar instrument, of an annular arched brace, B, having the ears 0 projecting from its outer edge and secured to the rim, and provided with the openings d between the outer edge of the brace and the rim, substantially as described.

4.. Ina banjo or similar musical instrument, the combination of the rim A, having the arched and thickened edge a, the annular 5 arched brace B, having ears 0 secured to said edge, and the parchment head O,substantially as described.

5. The combination of the rim A, the parchment head 0, the annular brace B, the drum D, having ears g, the ring E, sliding on the drum and provided with a flange o1 ]ugs,and

the screws f, passing through the ears of the drum and the flange or lugs on the sliding 5 ring, and also through the annular b1'ace,sub-

stantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal in the presence of two subsoribing witnesses.

GEORGE TEED. [n s.]

XVitnesses:

W. HAUFF, E. F. KAsTENIIUMJR. 

